FA Cup: Oxford City, Maidstone and Boreham Wood cause upsets in first round
- Published
Maidstone United have reached the second round of the FA Cup for the second time in four seasons
Oxford City, Maidstone United and Boreham Wood caused the biggest upsets in Saturday's FA Cup first round.
Oxford, who are one place off the bottom of the National League South, were 1-0 winners at League Two side Colchester United as they ended a 48-year wait to reach round two for a second time.
Fifth-tier Maidstone pulled off a famous 4-2 win at League Two side Cheltenham Town, while their National League counterparts Boreham Wood came from a goal down to beat League One Blackpool 2-1 - their first win over an EFL side.
The lowest-ranked side guaranteed a second-round tie are seventh-tier Hereford FC after they beat AFC Telford United 1-0 in front of a capacity crowd at Edgar Street.
Their Southern Premier League rivals Slough Town, who are two places above the Bulls in their league, had an impressive 6-0 win at National League North side Gainsborough Trinity thanks in part to a Matthew Lench hat-trick.
Meanwhile, four League Two sides got the better of League One opposition, National League Tranmere Rovers earned a replay after a 1-1 draw at League One Peterborough United and their fifth-tier counterparts AFC Fylde made the second round for the first time in their history following a 4-1 win over sixth-tier Kidderminster Harriers.
Oxford - a city divided
Oxford City have won four games in the FA Cup - twice as many as they have won all season in the league
If you had been popping out of the Ashmolean museum and sauntering down Magdalen Street on Friday morning, you probably would have expected the better-known of Oxford's two clubs to be the one to progress into round two.
League One United famously won the League Cup in 1986 and once made the FA Cup quarter-finals - but they were sent packing at League Two Port Vale on Friday night, leaving City to carry the ancient seat of learning's FA Cup hopes.
The task looked daunting for a side without a league win since the middle of August as they travelled to a Colchester side in mid-table in League Two.
But step-up journeyman striker Matt Paterson - the 28-year-old has had spells at nine other clubs including Southampton, Southend, Stockport County and Burton Albion - to score the only goal and earn his side a place in round two for the first time since 1969, and temporary bragging rights over their cross-town rivals.
So near, but oh so far
2006 FA Cup winner Harry Kewell will have to wait until next season for his first cup win as a manager
For every FA Cup dream story there is also one of heartbreak.
And was any side more gutted on Saturday than Ebbsfleet United?
Going into first-half stoppage time they were 2-0 up at home to League One Doncaster Rovers. But Matty Blair and John Marquis scored in three first-half stoppage-time minutes to bring Doncaster level and four more after the break ensured an emphatic 6-2 scoreline.
Harry Kewell, meanwhile, won the cup in 2006 with Liverpool - the famous 'Gerrard final' - but his managerial debut at Crawley Town has proved tough with the side just two points above the League Two relegation zone.
Crawley, who famously made the fifth round in 2011 and lost to the other Red Devils - Manchester United - have a decent cup pedigree.
They travelled to 2013 winners Wigan Athletic and took a 20th-minute lead, but nine minutes later the Latics levelled and Lee Evans added a winner for Wigan with 19 minutes to go.
Barnet also had a giant-killing in their eyes after going 1-0 up at Blackburn Rovers. But three goals in the final half hour ensured the 1995 Premier League champions and six-time FA Cup winners made Monday's second-round draw.
Zavon Hines - remember him?
Zavon Hines has played for five different clubs since leaving West Ham in 2011
West Ham fans may remember Zavon Hines, and so will Cheltenham supporters after they were humbled 4-2 at home by his current National League club Maidstone United.
A contemporary of players such as Mark Noble, Junior Stanislas and James Tomkins - who have all gone on to successful top-flight careers - Hines never really made the grade with the Hammers.
Despite playing for England Under-21s and scoring on his Hammers debut as a 19-year-old in the League Cup, the forward never managed to establish himself and has toured a host of clubs in the top four divisions.
Before this season he had only scored 14 goals in more than nine and a half years, but since moving to Maidstone the Jamaica-born striker, who is now 28, has been a changed man.
He has scored eight times in his past 11 games, including his first and second FA Cup goals - the second in Maidstone's famous win on Saturday.
The victory put them into the second round for the second time in four seasons.
Home comforts for Rose at Shaw Lane
Mansfield's Rose scores stunning scissor-kick goal
While the rest of Mansfield's squad got on the bus for the 40-mile trip from Field Mill to Barnsley-based Shaw Lane, Danny Rose's journey was a lot shorter.
Barnsley-born Rose, who began his career with the town's Championship side, lives just five minutes away from the Northern Premier League club and made his own way to the ground.
And it was a short journey to success for the striker, who scored two excellent goals to help Mansfield to a 3-1 win, including a spectacular scissor kick.
In fact, he scored twice as many FA Cup goals in a five-minute period at Shaw Lane than he managed during his three-year spell at Oakwell.
His one Barnsley cup goal was a winner when the Tykes beat Burnley 1-0 in 2013.
Hereford's phoenix rises highest
You cannot mention the FA Cup and Hereford without mentioning Ronnie Radford.
And you cannot mention Telford and the FA Cup without mentioning 1985 when they reached the fifth round before losing to an Everton side that had Kevin Sheedy, Peter Reid and Andy Gray wearing blue.
But since those heady times, both clubs have gone bust and been reformed.
AFC Telford United are in National League North after being reborn in 2004, while Hereford FC started out in 2015 after the original Bulls went bust.
The only sell-out crowd of the round so far - more than 4,700 - saw Southern Premier League Hereford overcome 10-man Telford thanks to John Mills' solitary goal.
Could we have a new Radford in the making?